Activities of IOS Headquarters

Activities of IOS Headquarters

Governing Council Meet

The Annual meeting of the Governing Council (G.C.) was held on 17th & 18th September, 2004 at 10:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. respectively in the Committee Room of the IOS, 162, Jogabai Main Road, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-25.

The following were present:

1. Dr. M. Manzoor Alam

2. Mr. Manzoor Ahmad

3. Prof. Z.M. Khan

4. Dr. Ishtiyaque Danish

5. Prof. A.R. Momin

6. Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui

7. Dr. S. Karamatullah Bahmani

8. Hon’ble Justice Mr. A.M. Ahmadi

9. Mr. Mahmood Ali

The meeting started with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran by Dr. Ishtiyaque Danish.

Before taking up the agenda items and starting the business Dr. M. Manzoor Alam, Chairman, IOS welcomed the members for attending the meeting. Thereafter the minutes of the Governing Council meeting dated 25.3.2004 were presented and confirmed.

The follow-up report (Action taken Report) on last G.C. meeting dated 25.3.2004 was presented before the Council. The same was considered and after deliberation approved with the following decisions/observations/ suggestions.

Under the Lecture Series on Constitution of India the following decisions were taken:

To cover the entire topics one lecture each at Kolkata, Patna, Chennai, Mumbai may also be organised.
For submitting the detailed report by the committee in regard to the establishment of the new academic centres it was suggested that the said report should be submitted by the end of September 2004.
For the project on Health and Hygiene it was suggested that sex-ratio should also be included in this project. As regards the finances for this project it was suggested that the Ministry of Health may be pursued to finance this project.

The 18th Annual Report of the IOS (for the year 2003-2004) was presented before the G.C. The same was considered by the G.C. and after making some minor changes (alterations/additions) it recommended the Report to the General Assembly (G.A.) for approval.

The Audited Financial Report of the IOS for the year 2002-2003 (assessment year 2003-2004) was considered and was recommended to the General Assembly for approval.

The Annual Budget of the IOS for the year 2004-2005 was discussed at length and was recommended for approval to the General Assembly of the IOS.

The G.C. discussed the scheme of Face-Lifting and Infra-structural Improvement of the IOS Headquarters as well as its Chapters and hoped that the required infra-structural improvement would be completed soon.

Before taking up the agenda on proposal of organising an International Conference on Indo-Middle East Relations: Looking Ahead, the Chairman apprised the members of the G.C. about the details of the conference which are as follows:

i) Three types of people i.e. Businessmen, Bureaucrats and Academicians from Middle-East will participate.

ii) There will be a fee for attending/ participating in the conference.

iii) The participants will be mainly from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, U.A.E. and Egypt. Muslim businessmen and intellectuals from India should also participate to have better interaction and closer relations.

iv) The conference will be organised by the IOS.

v) The conference will be held for three days.

vi) A Souvenir will also be published for this purpose.

The G.C. after discussing the above proposal keeping in view the above appraisal by the Chairman approved the same.

The only Yearly Plan submitted by the IOS Kolkata Chapter was discussed at length and it was decided that:

The first and the fourth items of the Plan i.e. ‘Promotion of Hindu-Muslim Understanding’ (an ongoing project) and ‘Dalit-Muslim Relations, respectively may be undertaken this year by the Kolkata Chapter.

As regards the fifth item i.e. ‘Educational Problems of Urdu speaking Minority in Kolkata’ it was decided that it may be undertaken with a different title i.e. ‘State of Education among Muslims in Kolkata and suggested measures to overcome the situation.’

The G.C. discussed the concept paper on the Development Plan of the IOS and decided to constitute the following committee to look into all the matter and submit their report as early as possible.

1. Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Convenor

2. Mr. Mahmood Ali

3. Prof. Z.M. Khan

The G.C. considered all the Position Papers relating with (a) Education
(b) Economy, (c) Security, and (d) Women at length and it was decided that all the members should send their observations/comments on the above Position Papers at the earliest so that their observations/ comments may be presented before the next G.C. meeting for its finalisation/approval in view of the comments/observations.

(iii) As regards the Report on “Saffronisation of Education: An Analytical Critique of NCERT’s National Curriculum Framework for School Education – Syllabus and Textbooks (History)”, submitted by
Dr. Shaukatullah Khan the G.C. decided that the Report should be published with a ‘Foreword’ by an eminent scholar.

(iv) In regard to the ‘Role of Indian Muslims in India’s Freedom Movement’ the G.C. decided that books on the role of Indian Muslims in India’s Freedom Movement covering various states separately be published because their role in the national movement has not been given adequate coverage in the press or books and that it has either been side-tracked or referred to here and there by scholars.

(v) Keeping in view the religious data of the 2001 Census released by the Census Commission the G.C. decided that in order to de-politicise the issues arising from the 2001 census and to analyse the census figures relating to Muslims in an objective, comparative and holistic perspective, a one day workshop on “Muslims and the 2001 Census” will be organised in the coming months. Eminent demographers, social scientists, NGOs and the media persons will be invited to participate in the workshop.

In the end, Prof. Z.M. Khan, Secretary General of the IOS, proposed a vote of thanks to all the members present.

Book Release and Discussion

A discussion as well as a function to release the book, “Economic Empowerment of Muslims in India” were held at the Constitution Club, New Delhi on September 14,2004 at 3.30 p.m. This book is the part of the “IOS Series on Empowerment of Muslims in India”. The series is aimed at documenting and highlighting the various dimensions of the marginalisation and disempowerment of Muslims during the post independence period. Two books of this series—“Empowerment of Muslims in India: Perspective, Context and Pre-requisites” (Prof. A.R. Momin) and “Empowerment of Muslims through Education” (by Prof.M. Akhtar Siddiqui) were already released by the Institute on March 9, 2004.

The present book is co-authored by Dr Abusaleh Shariff (Chief Economist and Head, Human Development Division, National Council for Applied Economic Research, New Delhi) and Mr. Mehtabul Azam (Consultant, International Food Policy Research Institute, South East Asia Office, New Delhi). Over the last few years Dr. Shariff has emerged as major development economist of South Asia.He also figured as one of the 100 Great Indians of the 21st Century in a special report by India Today.

This programme was presided over by Hon’ble Justice Mr. A.M Ahmadi, former Chief Justice of India and presently Chancellor, AMU Aligarh. Mr. V.P. Singh, former Prime Minister of India released the said publication. Many prominent economists, intellectuals, diplomats and social activists attended this programme.

After the recitation of Holy Quran, Prof. Z.M. Khan Secretary General of the Institute welcomed the audience. He introduced the activities of the Institute and highlighted the IOS Series on Empowerment of Muslims in India. Presenting the theme of the book he said, “The book is an attempt to present the facts about Muslim community vis-à-vis other communities in India in the field of demography, economic status and performance over the last decade using the reliable data. The book tries to analyze various threats and opportunities the community faces as a whole and the steps needed to promote the community’s welfare. The book has the ‘Foreword’ written by Dr Y.K. Alagh, an eminent economist of the country.

After Prof. Khan’s address Dr. Abusaleh Shariff made a power-point presentation on the “Indian Economic Scene”.He highlighted data on Religious Population share of Muslims in Indian Economy, Education and also in ‘Strategic Interventions for Muslim Empowerment in India’. His presentation was followed by the release of his book by Mr. V P Singh, the former Prime Minister.

On the issue of release of faulty religious-wise data in census report Mr. V.P. Singh said, “The Registrar General of Census should not have released the report if it did not have the corresponding figures of the last census for Assam and J & K or else it should have clarified that at the time of release. He said that it was because of inclusion of the religious census for these two states that the Muslim population has shown an increase. In the ensuing controversy every one forgot the fact that their overall population growth was declining.

He underlined the need for communal harmony and advocated interactive dialogue between Hindus and Muslims.He maintained that the solution lies in discussing the things openly and not segregating the two communities. If we come out with the problems, solutions will be thrown up automatically. Mr. Singh observed that the agencies, which are spreading communal disharmony in the country, must be checked and steps should be taken to spread communal harmony.

Mr. Singh emphasised the role of civil society. He said that civil society has to play a pro-active role in countering the attempt to vitiate the atmosphere in the country. While the state has the responsibility of providing security and infrastructure to the people, the civil society had to ensure a peaceful social environment. He clarified the fact that he was not only talking about Muslims. His concern was for all deprived sections of the society.

After his speech, a lively discussion on the topic of ‘Strategic Approach to Economic and Social Empowerment of Indian Muslims’ was held, in which many noted academicians participated. Prof. Amit Bhaduri, a visiting Professor at the Council for Social Development and Prof. Naushad Ali Azad, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, JMI spoke on this occasion. Prof. P.M. Kulkarni of Centre for the Study of Regional Development, JNU, New Delhi, Mr. Hamid Ansari, former Vice-Chancellor of AMU, Aligarh and Mr. Dinesh Singh also participated in this debate. It was followed by a question-answer session in which Dr Shariff responded to the questions from the audience.

Dr M. Manzoor Alam, the Chairman of the Institute, also spoke on this occasion. He said that after the release of this book other publications of this series would come out soon. He further said that no initiative for the welfare of the poor can be taken unless fear psychosis is removed.

Presiding over the function, Hon’ble Justice Mr. A.M. Ahmadi, former Chief Justice of India lauded the role of the IOS and its research initiatives. He said that the lack of growth, development and participation had made the Muslims ask for reservation after 50 years of Independence. He further said that the Muslims would not ask for reservation provided they get a fair deal and are permitted to work in a fear-free atmosphere. They are demanding reservations because roadblocks have been erected which hinder their progress and development. Earlier Mr. V.P. Singh had clarified that reservation is not just about jobs; it is about empowering the disempowered.